1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cell phone protector cases and in particular, cell phone protector cases which are designed to facilitate utilization of the cell phone while at the same time providing a protective covering to the cell phone so that the cell phone is not damaged if it is inadvertently bumped or dropped.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous designs for various cell phone protector cases that are known in the prior art. The following 10 patents and published patent applications are the closest relevant prior art:
1. U.S. Pat. No. 7,343,184 issued to Ramin Rostami on Mar. 11, 2008 for “Handheld Device Protective Case” (hereafter the “Rostami Patent”);
2. United States Published Patent Application No. 2010/0062816 to Hsin Yuan Yu on Mar. 11, 2010 for “Mobile Phone Protective Cover” (hereafter the “Yu Published Patent Application”);
3. U.S. Pat. No. 8,034,441 issued to Amy Lefebvre et al. on Oct. 11, 2011 for “Multilayer Composition” (hereafter the “Lefebvre Patent”);
4. U.S. Pat. No. 8,190,222 issued to Chao-Yung Cheng on May 29, 2012 for “Housing For Electronic Device” (hereafter the “Cheng Patent”);
5. U.S. Pat. No. 8,204,561 issued to Ryan Hill Mongan et al. on Jun. 19, 2012 for “One Piece Co-Formed Exterior Hard Shell Case With An Elastomeric Liner For Mobile Electronic Devices” (hereafter the “Mongan Patent”);
6. U.S. Pat. No. 8,245,842 issued to Steven Chi Vun Bau on Aug. 21, 2012 for “Protective Case Having A Hybrid Structure For Portable Handheld Electronic Devices” (hereafter the “Bau Patent”);
7. United States Published Patent Application No. 2012/0217257 to Shao-Chieh Ting on Aug. 30, 2012 for “Sleeve Structure For A Hand-Held Electronic Device” (hereafter the “Ting Published Patent Application”);
8. Chinese Patent No. CN201114197Y issued to Shaoyou Chen on Sep. 10, 2008 for “Mobile Phones Protective Cover Possessing Soft Gum” (hereafter the “Chen Chinese Patent”);
9. Chinese Patent No. CN201418453Y issued to Min Lu on Mar. 10, 2010 for “Novel Flexible Glue And Plastic Combined Protective Sleeve” (hereafter the “Lu Chinese Patent”);
10. Chinese Patent No. CN202311747U issued on Jul. 11, 2012 for “Mobile Phone Protective Sleeve” (hereafter the “Chinese Patent No. CN202311747U”).
The Rostami Patent deals with disclosing the concept of having a hard interior layer and a soft exterior layer but it has the requirement of a cavity into which one of the layers is inserted into a second layer cavity best shown in FIG. 2 as number 54. The independent claims of invention read as follows:                1. A protective case for a two-segment portable telephone comprising: a first segment, including a fitted cavity formed therein for mounting the associated segment of the portable telephone to the protective case; a second segment, separable from said first segment, including at least one fitted notch for mounting the associated segment of the portable telephone to the protective case; said first and second segments made up of: a protective inner layer composed of a hardened plastic; and a soft outer layer permanently affixed to the outside of said protective inner layer.        The Lefebvre Patent discloses a “Multilayer Composition”. It discloses:        “The invention relates to a multi-layer acrylic composition having at least two impact modified layers. The outer layer is an acrylic layer containing impact modifiers having a particle size of less than 225 nm, and the impact modifiers in the inner thermoplastic layer have a particle size of greater than or equal to 225 nm. The invention also relates to multi-layer composites having the multi-layer acrylic composition on one or both sides. The multi-layer acrylic composition can also include blends of acrylic and fluoropolymers.”        
The Yu Published Patent Application discloses the combination of a plastic shell and a soft interior lining.
The Cheng Patent discloses in FIG. 1 a main body 11 and an outer covering 12. The main body 11 is of rigid material and provides mechanical strength. The outer cover which really only encircles the periphery of the main body provides soft tactile appeal and protects the housing and enclosed components from external shock.
The Mongan Patent for discloses a protective case 11 comprising two separate layers, a first external hard shell layer 12 and a second interior elastomeric layer 13. The only independent claim of this patent is claim 1 which reads as follows:                “A one-piece case for enclosing a personal electronic device comprising: a flexible inner layer co-molded with an exterior hard layer and permanently affixed together to form a co-molded one-piece assembly; wherein the co-molded one-piece assembly is sufficiently flexible to accept insertion of the personal electronic device and sufficiently rigid to securely retain the inserted personal electronic device, wherein: the flexible inner layer includes a bottom surface, side surfaces joined to the bottom surface and extending upward therefrom, and a fitted cavity configured to accept and retain the inserted personal electronic device such that the bottom surface covers at least a portion of a bottom surface of the inserted personal electronic device and the side surfaces cover at least a portion of a side surface of the inserted personal electronic device; the exterior hard layer includes a bottom surface and side surfaces sized and shaped to substantially cover an exterior of the bottom and side surfaces of the flexible inner layer and a cut away portion that is permanently filled with a portion of the co-molded flexible inner layer.”        
The Bau Patent discloses the concept of a “Protective Case Having A Hybrid Structure For Portable Handheld Electronic Devices”. The relevant portion of the patent reads as follows:
“Reference is made to FIGS. 1-20. FIG. 11 shows the example of an electronic device in the form of a smart phone 10 (in the illustration, the electronic device resembles an Apple iPhone) held by a protective case 12 in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The protective case 12 exposes the display screen of the phone 10, which could be a touch sensitive screen for user interaction (e.g., user selections by tapping on the icons displayed on the screen). The commercial product implementing the present invention under this embodiment is generally referred to as the “Rebel” product. It comprises a 2-piece rear protective structure; including a tough but soft cover piece (the “glove” or “skin”) 14 and a hard frame 16.
The tough but soft glove 14 protects the phone's highly polished back from getting scratched. It snugly covers the entire back panel and the perimeter of the phone 10, like a skin, and exposes screen at the front of the phone 10. The glove 14 is of unitary, one-piece or monolithic structure. The glove 14 is partially covered with a hard plastic flexible exoskeleton frame 16 that grips from the back of the phone 10 and around the phone's edges and corners, thereby completely protecting the housing of the phone.
The Ting Published Patent Application discloses a “Sleeve Structure For A Hand-Held Electronic Device”. Referring to the abstract, the patent application discloses:                “A sleeve structure for a hand-held electronic device is assembled by a hard back cover and a soft plastic collar to enclose a hand-held electronic device, especially a tablet personal computer or a mobile phone. The hard back cover is made by Arcly and an entire surface manifests a pattern of diamonds to facilitate holding by a hand and increase fanciness and brightness. An inner surface of the back cover can be glued and attached with a laser reflection sticker which is printed with a pattern or can be processed with electroplating, depending on a shape design of the tablet personal computer or the mobile phone, thereby achieving fanciness and brightness. In addition, the soft plastic collar to enclose peripheries can prevent from scratching.”        
The Chen Chinese Patent is for a mobile phone protective case possessing soft gum. Specifically, the patent discloses:                “The utility model relates to a protective shell of a mobile phone, in particular to a mobile phone protective shell with soft glue, which comprises a hard plastic protective shell (1) matched with the shape of the mobile phone; the utility model is characterized in that: the protective shell (1) has a laminate structure; the surface of the protective shell is covered with a soft glue film (2). The mobile phone protective shell with soft glue is comfortable in handle and uneasy to slip from hands, and, in particular, provided with the soft glue film matched with a hidden arrow shape in a keyboard position, thereby preventing dust and sweat and being convenient for key-press operation and more suitable for practicality.”        The Lu Chinese Patent was published in 2009 and discloses:        “A novel flexible glue and plastic combined protective sleeve is characterized by the inclusion of a body 1 containing an electronic product, wherein the body 1 is formed by combining a plastic cover 2 and a flexible glue cover 3, the plastic cover 2 is a rigid plastic part, the flexible glue cover 3 is a soft flexible glue part, the plastic cover 2 adopts a plastic material to inject a required pattern, the flexible glue cover 3 takes a shape stamped by a soft flexible glue material and matched with profile of the such electronic products as a protected mobile phone, a MP3, MP4 and the like, the concave-convex pattern of a molding die is formed on the external surface of the flexible glue cover 3, the plastic cover 2 takes a shape matched with the concave-convex pattern on the surface of the flexible glue cover 3, thereby ensuring that the surface of the body 1 is flat and artistic after combination. A button position for clamping the appearances of such electronic products as the mobile phone, MP3, MP4, a camera, a mobile hard disk, a mobile computer and the like is arranged on the plastic cover 2. The utility model is capable of being produced industrially, and has the advantages of low cost and convenient use.”        Chinese Patent No. CN202311747U discloses:        “The utility model provides a mobile phone a protective sleeve, which comprises a lower cover and the lower cover of the upper cover is connected with, the main body of the lower cover is a plane, the upper cover and the sheath body comprises a soft material on the inner shell includes surrounding four sides of the mobile phone with the states the side to encircle and the side wall of the upper shell, said upper shell is hollow. Lower cover of the mobile phone of the utility model the protective sleeve is not susceptible to elastic deformation of the material, is the protection of the back of the mobile phone of the front face of the drain on the outside as much as possible. In the process and in use, the force of the side of the mobile phone, the mobile phone will not fall off, effectively protecting the mobile phone.”        
There is a significant need for an improved cell phone protector case which has an interior hard shell and a soft exterior shell to provide added protection for the cell phone.